


And then they were roommates

by somebodysomeplace1



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Roommates, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26609590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somebodysomeplace1/pseuds/somebodysomeplace1
Summary: COVID-19 hits LA and Eddie sends Chris to live with his family down in Texas so he doesn’t get COVID through Eddie because he’s a first responder and Buck moves in with Eddie so neither of them are alone.
Relationships: Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Eddie Diaz & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Eddie Diaz & Howie "Chimney" Han & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Howie "Chimney" Han/Bobby Nash
Kudos: 193





	And then they were roommates

This was not how they planned for things to go. Of course there was always this lingering thought in the back of Eddie’s head that told him that at some point it would come down to do the unthinkable; but he’d hoped that it wouldn’t.

Over the course of three months, things have become a little hectic- to say the least. Unless you were living under a rock, you would most likely know that a pandemic started; and to that knowledge, a tough one. People are getting tested, quarantined and some even laid off of work for a while. But unlike Eddie who happens to be an essential worker, he has to work; which is obviously not a great thing for him because he knows that he will be on the front lines with many people. Putting his son at risk as well.

“I don't wanna go.” Christopher whines. To be honest, it’s strange in Eddie’s eyes to see his son like this. Christopher’s never really one to complain or put up a fuss about something that he didn’t want to do himself; but this, this is something he seems to be furious about.

Trying to talk gently, Eddie starts to kneel down at Chris’ level- his height matching his son’s now.

“Chris.” he starts as he places a soft hand on his shoulder to reassure him “Texas is a great place- plus, all of your cousins are excited to see you.”

Christopher looks up at him with a pout on his face; at any other time he would wipe it away at the blink of an eye, but right now Eddie can’t; and it hurts.

Christopher sighs in response, not really knowing what to say; but as he calms down, he seems to muster up the words. “How long do I have to stay?” he asks with tears in his eyes- trying to not let a drop fall

The sight of his son crying makes his eyes start to well up as well. Not wanting to give an answer.

“Until it’s safe.” he whispers- putting his hand on his cheek to wipe away at the tears

There's a pause.  
“Come on.” Eddie says breaking the silence “Let’s get going.” The thought of knowing that he will probably be separated from his son for months on end makes him tear up. But it’s what's best; for the both of them.

Heading out the front door after checking everything off of Chris’ travel list that Eddie had made for him, he picks up his keys at the kitchen counter- slinging his jacket around him- and locks the door behind him; heading to the airport.

-

“Hey.” a voice says from behind Eddie. His shift has just about started as he is headed out of the locker room and up to the kitchen to have breakfast.

Turning around to face Hen, he offers over a smile. “Hey.”

Catching up to Eddie, they start to make their way up the stairs in the station.

“Had a rough night?” Hen questions as she looks over at Eddie. And Eddie’s gotta admit, he would be wondering how Hen noticed, but the evident dark bags under his eyes probably gave it away.

“Yeah.” Eddie groans as he shakes his head.

Hen doesn’t say anything for a moment, trying to come up with the right words. When they reach the top of the staircase, she turns her body and faces him- a sincere look on her face.

“Was it yesterday?”

The question doesn’t come as much of a shocker to Eddie. Both him and Hen have been dealing with the same thing.

“Yeah.” Eddie nods as he looks away from her

“Don’t worry.” Hen starts as they continue to walk towards the table in the kitchen “Christopher will be back before you know it.”

When they reach the table, Eddie takes the seat beside her and starts to dish out his food.

“It’s going to be hard to deal with.” Hen says, as she nudges Eddie beside her “It’s hard for any parent to be away from their child. But know that it’s for the best and that we’re all here if you need it.”

Eddie smiles at her as the alarm goes off for the first time since his shift started. Getting up and heading towards the truck, he gives her a kind ‘thank you’ and they are on their way.

-

Eddie would be lying if he said that he wasn’t tired. It’s the end of another 24-hour shift. They had just come back from a mild house fire with only minor injuries being reported- so it was successful. These past few days he has been completely exhausted, and it’s not only because his shifts seem to drag on for forever, but that his body aches which in return weighs him down.

As he is headed towards his truck- his work bag hanging off his shoulder- he sees a figure leaning effortlessly on the side of it; and he’d be stupid to not know who it is.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks, as he reaches the driver side of his vehicle

“Just wanted to see you.” Buck shrugs- saying it as though it is the most simple thing in the world; like it doesn’t do things to Eddie’s heart. “See how you’re doing.”

Eddie smirks at him- shaking his head in disbelief. “Okay.” he replies simply

Watching as Eddie takes his seat in his truck, Buck looks at his every motion. And Eddie seems to catch on, because when he looks at him, he raises his eyebrows.

“Wanna hop in?”

“What?” Buck questions- turning round to point to his car across the parking lot the next “I drove here in my own car.”

Of course he did. Now he sounds stupid.

“Well…” Eddie trails off, trying to come up with something to say “I just rented this new movie on demand if you want to come over and watch it.”

Buck smiles at him.

“Sure.” Buck starts “I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay.” Eddie smiles, watching as Buck struts back to his vehicle

-

The knock on the door doesn’t come as much of a shock to him, so after a brief moment Eddie approaches the door.  
“Hey.” Buck says. In his hands he holds two pizza boxes from their favorite pizza place- the usual

A crease starts to form between the small space between Eddie’s eyebrows as he takes a step to the side, allowing Buck to enter. “You know you didn’t have to bring anything.” he explains

Placing the pizzas on the kitchen counter, Buck turns around to look at him- wearing a grin.

“What.- and have you cook?” he laughs “I don’t think so.”

Eddie rolls his eyes at the comment, but he can’t deny it.

Making his way over to the kitchen table beside him, he starts to dish out the plates. Buck opting to grab the beers from out the fridge and place it on the table.

“So…” Buck trails off- taking his plate in his hand and beer in the other- heading towards the living room “What movie is it?”

“Hereditary.” Eddie answers, taking his seat next to Buck on the couch.

Turning to look at him, Buck shakes his head and laughs. “That’s not a new movie.”

Eddie just shrugs his shoulders, already leaning over to grab the remote on the coffee table. “I haven’t watched yet, so it’s new to me.” he smiles

With that, Buck puts his hands up in defense.

After the movie finishes, Eddie gets up from his seat beside Buck and places their dishes in the sink.

“The movie wasn’t even that scary.” Buck exclaims, watching as Eddie is headed back towards the living room.

“Says you.” Eddie starts “I literally saw you jump at some of the scenes.” he says as he is already impersonating a scared Buck which earns him a playful slap to the shoulder

“Plus, I couldn’t watch it when Christopher was here so now seemed like the right time. If I'd known that you would have been a big baby-”

“Hey.” Buck interrupts. Eddie burst out laughing, not even bothering to hide his emotions. It’s nice for him to have Buck around- to be himself around him and not having to hide his feelings.

“But I do like having you around.” Eddie manages to get out once he’s calmed himself down “Really.”

Buck smiles at him, and turns to look at the television in front of them, trying to hide the redness on his cheeks. “Thanks.”

Eddie starts to raise his hand up, shaking off his comment.

“You don’t need to thank me, you’re basically here all the time- might as well just move in.” The words escape his mouth before he’s even able to process it.

Buck’s eyes go wide, turning to face Eddie. “Move in?”

‘Yeah.” Eddie shrugs, as though it should be the most simple thing in the world “I mean I have space, you won’t have to pay the bills for your apartment, basically it’s a win-win situation.”

“You’re joking?” Buck asks

Eddie shakes his head. “No. I’m being one hundred percent serious.”

Buck squints his eyes, still trying to figure out if this is some big joke. “Okay.” he starts “I’ll move in with you.”

And Eddie takes that as a huge win.

“Guess that means that I’m cooking every meal.” Buck teases, which earns him a pillow to the face- courtesy of Eddie.

Removing the pillow from his lap, Buck looks down at the watch on his wrist reading eleven at night.

“I better head home.” he explains, getting up from the couch as he starts towards the front door

“See you tomorrow.” Eddie waves

With that, Buck’s out the door. Eddie can’t see it, but he just made Buck one of the happiest people in the world.

-

Over the course of a week, things move- well, unorganized to say the least.

“Okay.” Buck says, lugging yet another bag onto the cushions in the living room “This is it I believe.”

When Eddie comes back from his bedroom, he looks at Buck- now sprawled out, limbs covering almost every inch of the couch. “Why do you have so many clothes?” he says, grabbing another one of Buck’s bags on the ground around the couch and heading back towards his room.

Buck chuckles as he gets up to help Eddie with his bags.

“Wanted to be prepared.”

“Are you sure you aren’t staying forever?” Eddie teases, which earns him a warm smile from Buck.

“Okay.” Buck laughs as he finally places down the last of his bags

Moving to the dresser that is placed in front of Eddie’s bed, he turns around to face him, pointing at the individual drawers. “You can put your clothes in the top two drawers, and the rest of your stuff can just go in the closet.”

It doesn’t take them long to get the whole ‘what’s going where’ situation sorted out, before they finish and finally have time to relax.

“Here you go.” Buck says, as he places a dish of food in front of Eddie. He decided that they would stay in and actually have a home-cooked meal, so Buck decided to whip up some of his favourite dish for the both of them.

“Mmm.” Eddie hums as he smells the plate beneath him “It smells delicious.” And it’s true. Just about anything that he makes smells and tastes better than the last.

“Thanks.” Buck replies- sitting down beside him on the couch “Better dig in before it gets cold.”

Eddie doesn’t say another word; already digging into his meal.

-

“What is it?” Eddie questions as he steps out of the truck

“Three car pile-up.” Bobby says- making his way to the team “Chim and Hen, I’m gonna need you guys down at the front helping out the ones that made it out. Buck and Eddie, you guys are working at car three.”

“On it cap.” Buck says as they make their way to their designated spots.  
When they reach the car, it seems as though they don’t have too much work to do.

“Hello ma’am.” Eddie waves

The woman turns her head slightly to the side, now facing both him and Buck. “Hi.”

“Okay.” Buck replies as he is quickly on her stationing her head “It would be best if you didn’t move so much.” he smiles

The woman smiles in response, allowing them to do her job.

Taking her out of her car doesn’t take them as much as they thought it would- already finished before the rest of their teammates. And of course they aren’t going to just stand around and do nothing, so they decide to make their way over to the other cars.

Once they have finished on the scene, they head back to the station. Luckily, that means it is the end of Eddie’s shift and he can head home.

“Hey Eddie. I’m gonna have to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things before heading home.” Buck explains, as he puts his boots on in the locker room.

Chimney starts to snicker, shaking his head as he grabs the last of his items in the locker. “I knew you guys were friends, but actually tell each other what you’re doing before you go home.”

Eddie furrows his eyebrows, then looks down at Buck still sitting on the bench. Buck wearing the same expression.

“I mean.” Eddie starts “It makes sense. We leave together.”

The word ‘together’ catches both Chim and Hen by surprise. Both looking at one another and once they lock eyes, they burst out laughing.

“What?” Eddie asks when they don’t say anything

“You guys-” Hen says, trying to calm herself down “You guys live together?”

Eddie nods in response, causing them to burst out laughing again.

Closing the door to his locker, Eddie starts to head out of the locker room- Buck trailing closely behind.

And if he hears Chimney say that he’s going to text Maddie, it goes unnoticed.  
-

As Eddie wakes up, turning to the right side of his bed, he sees that it is empty.

Over the past few months, him and Buck have developed this routine. One gets up to prepare some things for the day, while the other gets to sleep in for a few more minutes. It has worked smoothly over the months that they have been living under the same roof.

“Buck?” Eddie calls from his room. Wiping tiredness from his eyes, Eddie takes a deep breath in and starts to make his way down the hall. The only thing that keeps him from falling down due to the lack of sleep is the smell of freshly made waffles- their scent lingering down the hall.

Making his way towards the scent, Eddie's eyes go wide as he reaches the doorway to his kitchen. The sight that he sees in front of him warms his heart- something that he can get used to. The sight of Buck humming loudly to a song, wearing an apron that he probably found deep in Eddie’s closet while taking the waffles out the waffle maker. He stares at the man in front of him, long enough, that he doesn’t even realize that Buck has turned around to face him.

“Eddie?” Buck says as he waves his arms sporadically in his vision. The motion catching Eddie’s eyes, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Oh- um yeah?” Eddie shakes his head

Buck chuckles, laughing at the confused and oblivious face that Eddie wears.

“You planning on picking your jaw up off the floor any time soon?” The comment makes Eddie blush even more than he had been before, as if that was even possible; like he’s some teenage girl with a crush.

“I was not-” Eddie says, trying to deny Buck’s observation, but stops himself when he can’t seem to come up with the words. And it seems as though Buck won’t hold it against him, because he waves it off and changes the topic.

Eddie’s embarrassment getting the best of him: 1-0.

-

“Buck hurry up.” Eddie says from down the hall

Eddie laughs to himself when he starts to hear the footsteps around the house get closer and closer. “I’m coming. Wait for me.”

As if the universe knew, when Buck takes his seat beside Eddie on the couch in the living room, his phone goes off.

“Daddy!” Christopher cheers- the sound of his son’s voice instantly making him lighten up

“Hey buddy.” Eddie smiles, and his smile just keeps on getting wider the more that he sees him “Look who I have with me.” he expresses as he turns to face the camera towards Buck. And when Chris sees him, the word ‘excited’ would be an understatement. More like overjoyed.

“Buck!”

“Hi superman.” Buck waves, wearing a grin on his face as well

“How are you?” Eddie asks his son- wanting to hear all of the stories of what he and his cousins got themselves into.

Christopher starts to look up to the sky, trying to think about what he has done over the past few months.

“Well…”

They spend an hour talking about what they endured over the months while separated- the good, the bad, everything. Unfortunately, it starts to get late and even in Texas, Chris has a bedtime.

“I have to go to bed now.” Christopher mumbles, the sound of his words barely being heard.

Eddie smiles at him- trying to keep his composure. “Okay buddy.”

“Good night Chris.” Buck says

“Wait, Buck.” Christopher stops, looking between both of them “Can you promise me something”

Buck turns to look at Eddie, trying to figure out what he could ask him. Eddie looks back at him and shrugs, not having a clue either.

“Yeah, sure.” he agrees

“Can you make sure that dad has fun?”

The words catch Eddie by surprise.

“What do you mean?”  
“I mean, make sure that he doesn’t get sad- being away from me and all.” he explains “Please?”

‘Of course.” Buck says- clarity evident in his voice

After a beat, Chris continues.

“I have to go now. Bye daddy, bye Buck. I love you.” he smiles

“I love you too.” Buck replies

Eddie can feel the tears start to well in his eyes, but he has to stay strong.

“I love you too.” Eddie smiles “So, so much.”

Christopher ends the call, leaving Eddie on the line. And as soon as he does, he starts to break down- losing that composure that he once had.

He thinks that its stupid. Crying over your child when they’re probably not crying over you. He believes that he should be used to it- being away from his son. When he was in Afghanistan, he was away from him for a while, so this should be a big deal- right?

The next thing that Eddie knows, Buck has his arms wrapped around him tightly. Holding him in all the right places, which makes him feel warm. Buck doesn’t say anything- and he doesn’t have to because Eddie knows that he’s here for him.

-

When Eddie arrives home on a late Friday afternoon- his 24-hour shift finally coming to an end- he plops his belongings down on the kitchen table, not caring enough to put them in their right place. As he walks over to the light switch to turn on the lights, he starts to feel warm hands make their way around his back and up his shoulders. It traces the lines of his muscles, leaving a pressure wherever the hands are placed.

“Hey.” Buck whispers, now in front of Eddie that he can feel his breath right above his lips. Being so close does things to him.

“Hey.” Eddie whispers back awkwardly, trying to picture what Buck is doing “Why are we in the dark?”

Buck doesn’t answer. Instead, he takes Eddie’s hands in his and leads him to their bedroom.

When they reach the room, the force of him being pushed back allows Eddie to plop down on his bed.  
The next thing that he knows, the lights are finally being turned on ever so blindingly.

There are a lot of things that Buck seems to pull off. He can pull off just about any colour of the rainbow and still manage to look good, he can light up the room when he walks in with his bright and infectious smile and always seems to make everyone laugh. Even at his dumb jokes. But even through all the things that he can do, Eddie never expected that Buck could pull off this.

“What is this?” Eddie says as his eyes start to tear up looking around at the room. The room is filled with rose petals, covering just about every inch on the floor.

“I wanted to do something for you.” Buck smiles as he looks down at Eddie which makes his heart skip a beat

Buck already does so much for him; for both him and Christopher.

“You didn’t have to.” Eddie admits

“Eddie.” Buck starts, voice going ever so low “I wanted to, trust me.” Walking around to the side of the bed that Eddie has his legs dangling off of, Buck comes up to him, leaning down to place a soft kiss to his lips. When their lips connect, the warmth from Buck’s makes it’s way over to his. The kiss is everything that he longed for. Living with the man that you are in love with has been pretty hard Eddie thinks, but it's been worth it he believes, because now he is kissing him, and it’s everything he’s wanted.

“Wow.” Eddie gasps when Buck pulls back. His lips still being felt against him, leaving him wanting more

Buck chuckles. “I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time.”

Eddie smiles at his words- cheeks becoming red at the thought of Buck longing for him as well.

“These past few months have been torture. Seeing you everyday in my bed.” Eddie starts “All I’ve wanted to do is reach over and touch.”

Buck smirks at him as he is already leaning back in. “Now you can anytime you want.”

“Oh, yeah?” Eddie challenges as he captures Buck’s lips in his once again

These past couple of months have been tough for him. His son had to be separated from him and move to Texas, he worked more than he ever has before, and is more tired than Eddie ever thought that he could be. This pandemic has infected many around the world, invading themselves in people and making it hard to live. But this pandemic has also brought families together. Made them realize that sometimes you can find joy in the small things; in each other.

And Eddie would say that he found joy in Buck- but he always has.


End file.
